1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to apparatus for generating smoke in a surgical environment and for evacuating the smoke from the surgical environment, and more specifically to apparatus for automatically controlling the smoke evacuator in response to operation of the smoke generator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Surgical smoke is often generated in a surgical environment by procedures which include electrosurgical cutting and coagulation, laser ablation, and heating. The smoke which is produced is often unpleasant and strong. It typically comprises water vapor, organic gasses and solid particles. Importantly, it may also contain viruses and virus particles which may represent an infectious potential to the surgical team. As a result, it is considered good surgical practice to remove the smoke from the surgical field to minimize the discomfort and safety risk to the surgical team.
In the past, the systems which produce the smoke and the systems which evacuate the smoke have been maintained separate. Under the circumstances proper evacuation of the smoke has required active participation on the part of a surgical team member to activate the evacuator whenever smoke was has been removed. When this team member failed to activate the evacuator or even delayed activation of the evacuator, the discomfort and safety hazard was quite apparent. When the team member failed to deactivate the evacuator after the smoke had been removed, the useful life of filters and other components of the evacuator was decreased. This lead to increased replacement costs, expensive repairs and down time.
More recently, Billings et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,334, disclosed a combination electrosurgical generator and suction apparatus. This apparatus includes a switching circuit which is actively responsive to either a hand switch or foot switch to power the electrosurgical tool. The switching circuit also controls a motor controller associated with the evacuator.
This system of Billings et al requires that the switching circuit of the electrosurgical apparatus be directly accessed by the motor controller. In other words, one must open the cabinet associated with the electrosurgical generator and determine what signals are present within the switching circuits which can be relied on by the motor controller to control the smoke evacuator. This effort, which typically requires an electronics specialist, is not easily accomplished in the field by technicians which may be faced with many different types of smoke producing systems as well as many types of smoke evacuators. Consequently, the system proposed by Billings et al generally requires the simultaneous manufacture of the electrosurgical apparatus and the smoke evacuator which is then sold as a combined surgical apparatus to the user.